Poople #577 started at ALUM on March 14, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence A>G, U>O, M>P, G>P, L>O, with 1 par-preserving first moves.
The hint describes the move without naming the word. The full route stays closed until you ask for it.
Reveal a direction, not a word
The current row reads A-L-U-M. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 5-move answer
ALUM -> GLUM -> GLOM -> GLOP -> PLOP -> POOP
Step 0ALUMStart
Step 1GLUMBridge
Step 2GLOMBridge
Step 3GLOPBridge
Step 4PLOPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1ALUM -> GLUM
Tile 1 changes A to G; the move is sideways by letter shape. GLUM has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ALUM include PLUM, SLUM.
Step 2GLUM -> GLOM
Tile 3 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. GLOM has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GLUM include GLAM, GLUE, PLUM, SLUM.
Step 3GLOM -> GLOP
Tile 4 changes M to P; the move is closer by letter shape. GLOP has 8 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GLOM include GLOW, GLOB, GLAM.
Step 4GLOP -> PLOP
Tile 1 changes G to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PLOP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from GLOP include GOOP, FLOP, SLOP, CLOP.
Step 5PLOP -> POOP
Tile 2 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PLOP include PROP, PLOT, FLOP, PLOW.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
ALUM has 3 legal one-letter neighbors, but only GLUM keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin PLUM (+1), SLUM (+1).
Compare 3 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
GLUM
1: A -> G
5
Keeps par
2
PLUM
1: A -> P
6
Adds 1 move
2
SLUM
1: A -> S
6
Adds 1 move
7
ALUM opening fingerprint
ALUM groups its legal first moves as tile 1: GLUM, PLUM, SLUM. Two moves from the start, 14 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is GLAM, SLAM, SLIM, SLUG, SLUR, GLUE, GLUG, GLUT, PLUG, PLUM, SLUM, PLUS, SCUM, SWUM.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
GLOM is the narrowest displayed bridge
After GLUM becomes GLOM, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as GLAM, GLUE, PLUM, SLUM show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
1
Temporary shape detours
0
Steps touching a vowel
3
How these figures were calculated
Poople recomputes adjacency and distance from the accepted 2,398-word graph. "Shortest routes" counts every path that lowers the remaining distance by one at each move; it is not a guess based on page text or player scores.
The displayed answer is one shortest route selected from that graph. Community scores and notes are kept separate because they describe player activity, not the mathematical route.
Data mode: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-23 03:05 UTCPuzzle date: March 14, 2027